Archive for January 3rd, 2010

Lamberto Bava proves he can master the art of cinema, just like his father, Mario, with obvious high expectations. Until now, I’ve always though he was missing a little magic with his films, but Demons is full of charm. It’s a simple ,classic, crazy gorefest from ’85. Fast moving, colourful and high is blood, puss and over the top carnage.

A cinema offer’s free tickets to a secret screening of an undisclosed movie. Upon arrival, the guests find the story line of the horror film on the screen begins to mirror what is happening within the cinema itself as the audience are slowly infected and transform into blood thirsty Demons.

It’s beautifully shot, full of Italian charm and style, great looking actors (Nicoletta Elmi, Natasha Hovey, Fiore Argento and Italian hunk Urbana Barberini) and impressive gore effects (care of FX Master, Sergio Stivaletti) which really have stood the test of time. Eye gouges and trapped fingers in the door are achieved with pure realism and a stunning moment with a bloke getting his hand blown off, and a brutal stabbing scene, but these are just a few amongst a whole number of crazy cartoon gore moments. Music is also a great highlight for me with a stunning euro electro pop score, care of Claudio Simonetti, and balanced with some metal tracks from the 80’s.

The lighting of the film is pure Argento (here as Producer); blues and reds from his Suspira Inferno era. It’s smooth and glossy and faultless from a production point of view. The storyline can be seen as have some holes, but this needs to be overlooked as all great Italian magical viewing experiences. There are also issues with dubbing, which at times creates a slightly camp feel to the production. I can’t help but think this film would benefit from an Italian language release with English subs.